20demayo Chapter 45 The Sun Needle
Chapter 45 The Sun Needle
"Ready—Go!"
With the referee's command, the atmosphere on the fighting stage instantly became tense.
Wang Jiahao let out a low roar, and two yellow century-old soul rings beneath his feet suddenly lit up. The large black hooded hoodie he wore appeared even more eerie and mysterious under the surge of soul power.
Immediately afterward, his first spirit ring flashed. Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Accompanied by a series of crisp metallic scraping sounds, countless black metal cannon barrels emerged directly from under the fabric of his black coat! A full eight powerful spirit cannons locked onto Ye Chenxing's location.
Seeing this, Xiao Hongchen in the stands had a slight glimmer of hope. "Heh, this Jiahao actually chose the same battle strategy as me?"
However, Xiao Hongchen quickly shook his head. Only eight cannons? That's not even a fraction of his. But he had to admit that among soul masters of the same level, a martial soul that could directly conceal and load soul tools onto its body was already considered excellent.
After all, some Soul Masters have a skeleton as their Martial Soul, and they have to rely on the summoned skeleton to carry the Soul Guidance Cannon.
As soon as the battle began, Wang Jiahao instantly changed from his previous noisy and arrogant demeanor, and fell into a very calm and focused state.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A surge of violent soul power condensed at the cannon muzzle, and eight dazzling soul-guided rays intertwined to form a dense net of fire, blasting towards Ye Chenxing.
However, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
Faced with this overwhelming firepower, Ye Chenxing didn't even release his martial spirit. He moved through the gaps in the explosions as if strolling in a garden. Every sidestep and every duck was precise to the millimeter, and those seemingly deadly soul-guided rays could only barely graze the hem of his clothes.
Wang Jiahao, watching from behind the artillery barrage, felt his scalp tingle. How could this be?! The enemy's movements were completely calm, without even a single unnecessary movement; it was as if they had predicted the landing point of every single one of his shells!
Little did he know that Ye Chenxing's mental detection was even superior to Huo Yuhao's at the same level in the original timeline. Within Ye Chenxing's terrifying, all-encompassing, and seamless sensory network, this level of firepower coverage was like a slow-motion replay, unable to even touch the hem of his clothes.
"Long-range attacks are useless; he can read my bullet trajectories!"
Wang Jiahao, after all, possessed considerable combat intelligence and quickly made a judgment. If he continued this blind bombardment, his soul power would soon be depleted. He decisively cut off the output of soul power, and with a "whoosh," the eight soul-guided cannons instantly retracted into his black hoodie.
Immediately afterwards, he reached under his coat and pulled out two black metal discs with edges that gleamed with a chilling light.
His greatest strength wasn't long-range artillery, but close-quarters surprise attacks! His initial barrage of fire was just a smokescreen, designed to force his opponent to close the distance to avoid the artillery fire, so he could then deliver a fatal blow with his two sharp soul-guided discs.
At the same time, the weapon was designed as a disc because it can not only be used for offense, but also for defense at critical moments. This is Wang Jiahao's true fighting style!
Wang Jiahao: My peers: Long-range soul tools, melee soul tools, defensive soul tools
Me: Let's use them together.
It's just...
But this time, Ye Chenxing didn't fall for it at all. He simply stood still, avoiding all the artillery fire in the most energy-efficient way, showing absolutely no desire to attack him.
"Since you're not going to attack, then don't blame me!" Seeing that his soul power could no longer be wasted, Wang Jiahao gritted his teeth, held the two discs, and transformed into a black afterimage, charging towards Ye Chenxing!
However, much to Wang Jiahao's surprise, even after closing the distance and engaging in close combat, he still couldn't hit Ye Chenxing.
Dodging in close combat is several times more difficult than in ranged attacks. His soul-guided cannon requires aiming and firing, and he cannot change direction in the middle. But close combat is different. The speed of his moves and his changes of moves seem to be within the calculations of the opponent. No matter how he attacks, it is useless.
The male trainees in the stands couldn't stand it anymore and muttered, "What's going on? Is this guy surnamed Ye just good at dodging?" A girl next to him immediately retorted without hesitation, "What do you know? He didn't even let the other guy touch a single hair; that's proof of his strength, okay?!"
Listening to the surrounding discussions, Xiao Hongchen, standing on the second-floor viewing platform, looked puzzled, his brows furrowing slightly.
"What is Ye Chenxing up to? Why is he going to all this trouble?" Xiao Hongchen wondered to himself. Given the power Ye Chenxing displayed when he killed Jin Hu in the Jingyang Mountains, dealing with Wang Jiahao would be a piece of cake.
Could it be that he was afraid of hurting his classmates? But that doesn't make sense. With the abnormal level of control he displayed over his martial soul, he shouldn't have this problem of not being able to stop.
"Could it be... he's showing off on purpose?!"
Meng Hongchen, standing next to him, rolled her eyes at him irritably: "Do you think everyone is as showy as you? There must be a reason why Chenxing is doing this. Just watch and see."
At this moment, Wang Jiahao on the arena grew increasingly anxious. His depleted soul power, coupled with the frustration of his prolonged attacks, caused him to roar out in anger, "Is all you can do to hide like a rat?!"
Upon hearing this provocation, Ye Chenxing actually stopped in his tracks.
He seemed to have taken the other person's words to heart, smiled slightly, and gently opened his palm. A silver spherical object appeared out of thin air in his palm. As he poured in his soul power, he slightly bent his fingertips and flicked it lightly.
"Whoosh—"
A flash of silver light instantly left his hand, leaving a trail as it flew towards Wang Jiahao.
Upon seeing this, Wang Jiahao's heart tightened. He dared not be negligent and quickly activated his soul power to adjust the form of the soul tool in his hand. The two black discs in his hand, resembling CDs, instantly enlarged, like two sturdy shields, firmly protecting him in front of him, ready to withstand this sudden counterattack.
However, something truly unexpected happened.
The silver light that Ye Chenxing unleashed not only failed to hit Wang Jiahao's two huge black shields, but instead traced an extremely absurd parabola, flying straight into the sky.
The shot...missed?!
The air in the entire venue seemed to freeze at that moment, and the audience below the stage were all stunned.
Ye Chenxing, who had just dodged all of the opponent's attacks with such strategic brilliance, actually made such a basic mistake on his first offensive move?! It's one thing if you deviate by an inch or two, but who attacks an enemy directly in front of them by shooting the attack into the air?!
Xiao Hongchen covered his eyes in despair, couldn't help but sigh and rub his forehead: "Chenxing, Chenxing, we all have our own expertise. You, a peerless genius with an ultimate martial soul, what were you thinking of showing off with a soul tool? You've made a huge fool of yourself now..."
With his sharp eyesight, he immediately recognized that Ye Chenxing had thrown out a silver spherical soul tool.
Meng Hongchen, standing to the side, was also stunned, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment. This was impossible! With Chenxing's immense spiritual power, even with her eyes closed, she couldn't possibly create such an outrageous trajectory. Could it be because it was her first time using a soul tool and she hadn't controlled the power properly?
Lin Jiayi, standing to the side, was also slightly taken aback, then shook his head with a wry smile. It seemed that although this child possessed immense mental strength and astonishing theoretical knowledge, he still lacked practical experience with soul tools.
"Master, it seems this child needs more practice." Lin Jiayi respectfully turned around and suggested to Jing Hongchen, "I'll arrange more practical lessons for him later, what do you think..."
"The sect leader?"
Lin Jiayi noticed that Jing Hongchen seemed not to have heard what he said and was still staring straight at the scene. He couldn't help but feel puzzled and leaned over to look at Jing Hongchen's face.
The renowned ninth-level Soul Master and head of the Mingde Hall, who was famous throughout the continent, was now gripping the railing of the stands tightly with both hands. His eyes were so wide they were almost bulging out of their sockets, his mouth was agape, and he had an expression of disbelief on his face. His whole body was trembling.
"Too...too...too..."
"Too much?" Lin Jiayi was completely confused. Following Jing Hongchen's blank gaze, he also looked up at the sky in bewilderment.
Seeing the silver light shoot straight into the sky, missing the very edge, Wang Jiahao on the arena breathed a long sigh of relief.
The way he had been completely outmaneuvered and toyed with like a dog filled him with immense anger, but even more so with an overwhelming sense of fear.
Seeing that the other party had actually pulled a big foul, he immediately felt he had gotten his revenge and couldn't help but laugh:
"Hahaha! Can you aim a little better? That's way off target!" Wang Jiahao shouted triumphantly. "Even though you're good at footwork and dodging, making it impossible for me to hit you, your accuracy is so good I wouldn't even need to dodge if I were standing right here!"
Ye Chenxing remained unperturbed by the mockery. A mysterious smile played on his lips as he quietly watched Wang Jiahao.
"Are you sure we don't need to hide?"
Wang Jiahao's smile froze, a chill creeping into his heart: "You... what do you mean?"
Ye Chenxing did not answer, but slowly raised his right hand, raised his index finger, and gently pointed to the sky.
Everyone in the audience, including the students in the stands and the teachers acting as referees, involuntarily looked up at the sky in the direction he was pointing.
The test area was not capped because it was necessary to test high-altitude soul guides.
The silver sphere, originally only the size of a fist, had somehow become hovering directly above the Soul Arena. It was disintegrating and expanding at an incredible speed! Then, a point of light golden light, as brilliant as the sun, seeped out from its core, rapidly intertwining and merging with the cold silver light.
A terrifying pressure, chilling to the bone, enveloped the entire area like dark clouds overhead.
The students below were completely bewildered, unable to understand what kind of soul tool it was; but Wang Jiahao, who was in the center of the oppressive aura, had already felt a strong sense of danger, and his legs began to tremble uncontrollably.
On the second-floor stands, Xiao Hongchen, who had been looking at Xiao Hongchen with a look of disappointment, suddenly stood up from his seat! He stared intently at the constantly converging golden and silver light in the sky, gripping the railing tightly with both hands, almost breaking it.
"That...that is..." Xiao Hongchen's voice trembled.
"That's the Sun God Needle!!!" x2
On the highest viewing platform, two exclamations of surprise rang out almost simultaneously! The two exclamations came from Jing Hongchen, the head of Mingde Hall, and Lin Jiayi, the dean of students!
That's right, what Ye Chenxing took out at this moment was Ye Yulin's Sun God Needle, no, perhaps it should be said that even its inventor had not yet successfully perfected the Sun and Moon God Needle!
With his complete mastery of launching soul tools, Ye Chenxing successfully created his improved version, which only requires a short charging time to be used.
The reason he was dodging on the field just now was to recharge it.
As their words fell, the golden and silver rays in the sky finally converged.
"Buzz—"
For a moment, the world seemed to fall silent. Then, a beam of light, containing terrifyingly high temperatures capable of destroying the heavens and the earth, crashed down from the sky with overwhelming force, like a divine judgment!
Seeing the gold and silver, Wang Jiahao was completely dumbfounded. His mind went blank. He couldn't even muster the instinct to raise his soul-guided shield to defend himself, let alone dodge it. He just stood there, dumbfounded, waiting to die.
The referee, who was standing nearby, was also pale-faced. He was just about to take out his defensive soul tool to save Wang Jiahao when...
Swah——
Someone acted first, and an old figure, as ghostly as ever, appeared out of thin air in front of Wang Jiahao. Immediately afterwards, a thick, hemispherical protective shield, almost tangible, suddenly opened up, firmly protecting the two of them within.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A blinding flash of light, accompanied by a deafening roar, instantly engulfed nearly half of the arena. A violent energy storm, carrying debris and dust, swept in all directions, forcing the students below to close their eyes and retreat hastily.
After a long while, the smoke and dust slowly dissipated.
On the arena, the old man who had suddenly appeared remained in the position of holding up the protective shield, while Wang Jiahao behind him had already collapsed to the ground with his legs weak.
However, the old man didn't even glance at Wang Jiahao.
His eyes were filled with unparalleled shock and fervor. He stared intently at the silver sphere in the sky that was slowly closing in and finally turning into a streak of light as it flew back into Ye Chenxing's hand.
Just as Ye Chenxing put the soul tool back into his palm, the old man rushed over as if he had teleported, and his hands, like iron clamps, pressed down hard on Ye Chenxing's shoulders!
"Child!!! This...this thing!!"
The old man's body trembled like a leaf, his cloudy eyes were now bloodshot and wide open like copper bells, he was breathing heavily, spitting out saliva, and became incoherent due to extreme agitation:
"How did you do that?! This energy compression ratio! That convergence and superposition of energy! This is what I'm currently improving, what I'm researching! How did you shrink the core array of the Sun Needle to fit inside these level-five materials? Such immense power, yet the outer shell doesn't even show a trace of melting! What method did you use?! How did you manage to... no, no, this is only of the same origin as my Sun Needle, but its intricacies far surpass it! How did you do that?!"
"This is a miracle! No, this is a masterpiece!!"
The old man was so excited he was incoherent, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ye Chenxing's hand, his tone even carrying a hint of pleading: "Could you let me see your work? Child, I can trade you a soul tool! Level eight... no! Level nine, I'll trade you a level nine soul tool!"